Selecting the right home health agency software is a

daunting task. Here are the questions to ask to help make the right decision.

You’ve carefully chosen staff based on their ability to provide world-class patient care, so the tools that you give them should help them stay focused on optimizing the time they spend with patients and minimizing the time they spend sifting through paperwork.

Finding the right software to manage your home healthcare agency is one of the most important decisions you’ll make as you transition to electronic health records (EHRs).  It can help your employees and your organization save time and gain efficiency, but from implementation to training and ongoing support, you also need to keep costs in mind. It’s a tough decision, so we have some tips on how to select a home health agency software program that will help keep your patient-focused agency running smoothly.

Selecting home healthcare software

Currently, the Health IT Policy Committee is working on creating voluntary certification criteria for healthcare-based software. You can see what some of the criteria is like here, but until the committee completes their work, you’ll have to make sound decisions about home healthcare software. Begin your search by seeking out software that receives high marks for interoperability and offers reliable security and privacy features. The software you select will have to be able to communicate with devices in your office, in the field, and work with cloud-based databases throughout the industry, not to mention meet all health information privacy standards set forth by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  

What will the software do for your organization?

Once you’ve established that the software you’re considering meets basic operability and safety standards, it’s time to make sure the software has options and  functionality that will be most important to your organization and staff.

Patients first: Consider the type of information you’ll need the system to handle for patient care. The software should support a patient chart that maintains up-to-date information about care, prescriptions, and other patient data. Doctors should be able to have access to the patient chart with the ability to approve care and write prescriptions with an e-signature. Scheduling and other day-to-day information should be easily accessible at all times, from any approved device.

Communication with your systems: Select software that integrates with the systems you currently use – scheduling, billing, and communications. Also be sure the software integrates seamlessly with system requirements set out by insurance agencies and government entities that you work with.

Administrative and billing: Software that works well helps you collect and analyze data. The software you select must have at-a-glance features that allow you to get a quick picture of financial and billing data of all kinds. Reports that can be customized to your needs are essential, too. For example, get notifications when important billing deadlines approach, or schedule a daily report to be sent to you at a particular time so that you can improve efficiency.

Implementation, training and support

Before you purchase the software, ask plenty of questions about implementation. See if the company you’re working with offers a referral program. Getting advice on implementation from a number of sources will help you build a punch-list of questions and to-do’s that are specific to your office and your systems.

Ask the software company:

• What kind of implementation support do they provide? Make sure the company isn’t just selling you an out-of-the-box solution and leaving you to figure it out.
• Will there be training for my staff? Find out if the company offers training – from live phone and online support to videos and tutorials – and make sure that the company employs real professionals who understand the product and the healthcare business.
• How does the company handle upgrades and ongoing education? Software companies often release new and improved versions of their product. Make sure they are good at communicating these updates to their customers, so that you’ll have an ongoing, positive relationship with the company.

Cost

When you’re thinking about cost, consider all the costs that are rolled into this decision. You are making a capital expenditure that will impact a number of systems, most of your employees, and the well-being of the patients you look after. This is an important decision.

Basic costs: Be sure to understand the cost of the software, and extra costs that may be involved, such as how many “seats” (or users) come with the software. Plans the offer a tiered approach that factors in the number of users can be very helpful in a growth industry like healthcare, allowing you to add or subtract users and adjust payments as you do.

Long term costs. Really look into the fidelity of the software company you choose. You’ll want them to be around for a long time, supporting your software with updates. Make sure, also, that the company is very knowledgeable about the healthcare industry – consider what even a single compliance violation could cost you, and then be sure that the company you choose will be able to keep up with codes and laws specific to the healthcare industry.

Buy-in: Finally, make sure the people who will use the software most will have an opportunity to check it out and test it before you make your final selection. If the staff hates it, you could be buying trouble. Getting staff buy-in is helpful, so go on the company’s website, and schedule some time to watch a video about the software, or – if you’re really serious about a purchase – ask the software sales team for demos and/or short-term logins so your staff can try out the software for themselves.

Selecting the right software will make a huge difference to your staff and to your bottom line. And, when you really look into all of the time- and cost-saving attributes of home healthcare software that’s out there now, maybe you’ll start believing that there is a silver lining around this computing cloud after all.